Grab your dive gear; this museum is underwater

CNN Staff • Published 18th January 2017

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(CNN) — It's been two years in the making, but Europe's first underwater museum is finally complete.

Deep in waters off the Spain's Lanzarote island and accessible only to snorkelers, divers and sea life, the Museo Atlantico (Atlantic Museum) features more than 300 sculptures by international artist Jason deCaires Taylor.

Submerged at depths of between 12 and 15 meters (39 to 49 feet) on the seafloor of Las Coloradas bay, the enigmatic human figures will help form part of an artificial reef, acting as a breeding site for local species.

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It's been open to the public since March 2016, but it's only now that visitors can see the completed project in all its glory.

"The whole idea was for it to become a portal to another world," says DeCaires Taylor, who's supplied similar sculpture installations at underwater museums in the Bahamas, Mexico and the Antilles.